I am just getting into hunting. Mainly looking at whitetail and mule deer in eastern Alberta and western sask. I have passed the hunter safety course and was thinking of buying a rifle with Boxing Day sales to get range time on it so I can practice up for next year. I was looking at getting the savage axis xp package from Cabela’s currently on a good sale. Was thinking of going with .270 win for deer hunting. Are these good beginner rifles? Also how is the glass on the scopes packaged with the rifle? If they are junk I may look at a vortex crossfire
Beginner Hunter
- Thread starter MattE93
- Start date
- Location
- British Canuckistan
what is your budget? that will help with suggestions, keeping good glass in mind.
Out of the box, most entry level rifles will be fine for deer hunting. The scopes on the entry level package guns are ok at best, yes they will work but I would recommend upgrading to a better scope when funds allow for it. The vortex scopes are a good starting point as are the bushnell series. In my experience the savage axis rifles are built well enough to fill the freezer as is the Remington 783 series. I am not a fan of the Mossberg Patriot rifles, feel flimsy in the hand and the bolt is kind of sloppy.
I would like to spend around 500 or less that could be on rifle or rifle with glass as well. If just on rifle I will put glass on later. Wasn’t really looking at buying a new rifle but there are some good sales on right now. The savage axis xp right now is on for $389 with a rebate, that comes with the scope, rings, and bases. I could also get a cortex crossfire II ($200), Nikon Buckmaster II ($180),
- Location
- British Canuckistan
note that Nikon is getting out of hunting optics, so you may want to focus on Vortex, Bushnell, Leupold, Weaver, etc.
.270 is a very capable round, it's what my brother used to take his deer, bear and moose.
.270 is a very capable round, it's what my brother used to take his deer, bear and moose.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
A friend of mine has a couples newer axis rifles he hunts with, he’s mentioned they’re nicer than the older axis models. He’s got a couple Rem 700’s and a Browning X bolt and an A bolt and he hunts with the savages still, I’d feel comfortable hunting with one if my budget dictated it. I’d buy the scope separately or buy the package and sell the scope and put some better glass on it.
I was thinking of buying the savage package, selling the scope as the scope, base, rings and rifle is $389 after discount and rebate. If I can sell the scope for $90 I could put a vortex or Bushnell on it and have a hunting set up for $500. Whats a good beginner caliber, focusing on deer for now, .243, .270, .308, .30-06 or 7mm rem mag? I want a caliber that is fairly easy for a newer shooter to hit targets accurately out to 500 yards or so is somewhat mild on recoil though this isn’t a huge problem and has a large selection of affordable bullets
Grizzlyguy2010
Member
A Savage .270 with an upgraded scope is a great starting rifle that will fill your freezer and withstand being out in the bush. Definitely get a reputable scope that'll hold zero and also last and possibly use on future rifles you may end up upgrading to. To answer you most recent post, .270 is a great all-around round to go with as it can take down a wide range of game and it is affordable. Ideally one would like to sample several calibers to find which best suits you because it does come down to preference but it may not be feasible. Good luck and welcome to the hunting world!
I have experience with heavy hitting caliber as I own 8mm Mauser, .303 brit, and 7.5 Swiss, so recoil doesn’t bother me too much. But I would like to go with a round that is capable of taking down deer easily, and is affordable so .270 seems like the best bet. I have read some terrible reviews of the savage axis but also reviews that say the new ones fixed the problems over the old. If so the package Cabela’s has seems like a great deal at 389 for the rifle and rings+scope. I will probably sell the scope and go with a Nikon Buckmaster or vortex crossfire II.
I do have a Nikon prostaff rimfire II as well not sure if it could handle heavier recoil though.
I do have a Nikon prostaff rimfire II as well not sure if it could handle heavier recoil though.
Don't hold me accountable to this but I would suspect the only difference in the rimfire version of the Prostaff is the fixed parallax setting.
I know it works that way on the Vortex Crossfire rimfire models. 100% the same scope except the parallax setting. On the rimfire version parallax is set at 50 yards compared to a 100 yard parallax setting on the regular version.
According to the interweb the Nikon Prostaff rimfire scope has a parallax setting of 50 yards for the 3-9x and 75 yards for the 4-12x.
Not sure if there are any other differences or not but if it were my scope I wouldn't hesitate to use it on the 270. The Prostaff has got to be a better scope than the cheap combo scope that comes on the Axis.
Not sure if there are any other differences or not but if it were my scope I wouldn't hesitate to use it on the 270. The Prostaff has got to be a better scope than the cheap combo scope that comes on the Axis.
May I suggest a used rifle? Have a look at a Husqvarna 1600 series in 30-06 from Trade Ex. That is a quality rifle that will last you a lifetime, for the price of one of today's low end rifles.
Get a decent scope. Bushnell 3500 series can be found at heavily discounted prices, due to Bushnell's overhaul of its product line.
You can't use the words "easy", "newer shooter" and "500 yards" in the same sentence. And a rifle is never going to make that "easy". Skill, practice, proper technique and equipment will make it feasible, but not easy.
Quite a big task to reliably cold bore hit a target at 500yds in unknown terrain with a cheap light hunting rifle and cheap scope. One can't always count on luck.
My advice would be to initially forget about 500yds and set the goal to max 200yds. Start with a 308, maybe invest a bit more in the rifle as all ammo testing aftermarket parts etc. won't be wasted because of a later rifle upgrade. Scopes come and go, they are easier to upgrade as time goes. 308 because there is so much good ammo about and 308's normally shoot very well. Much easier to practice a lot with cheaper ammo, prove to your self first you can achieve the needed accuracy under hunting shooting positions at the ranges you want to shoot deer at... with the rifle at hand. I found 165/168 gr is a good compromise for deer in 308.
edi
My advice would be to initially forget about 500yds and set the goal to max 200yds. Start with a 308, maybe invest a bit more in the rifle as all ammo testing aftermarket parts etc. won't be wasted because of a later rifle upgrade. Scopes come and go, they are easier to upgrade as time goes. 308 because there is so much good ammo about and 308's normally shoot very well. Much easier to practice a lot with cheaper ammo, prove to your self first you can achieve the needed accuracy under hunting shooting positions at the ranges you want to shoot deer at... with the rifle at hand. I found 165/168 gr is a good compromise for deer in 308.
edi
skneub
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
GF bought a savage package rifle in 30/06 a few years ago after they cheeped them up with the plastic mag.
she had light strike issues with it , several times...
non fire , light strikes.
get an older one with the metal mag
Savage did however step up with a fireing pin and spring (They actualy mailed it to her lol)
I installed it , and that fixed it.
still not as good as my older one
buy something else IMHO
she had light strike issues with it , several times...
non fire , light strikes.
get an older one with the metal mag
Savage did however step up with a fireing pin and spring (They actualy mailed it to her lol)
I installed it , and that fixed it.
still not as good as my older one
buy something else IMHO
